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Ulysses GAS Interstellar Helium Maps

Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

This Ulysses GAS experiment data set consists of pixel map data and image files for sky maps generated from GAS measurements in the mode primarily sensitive to neutral helium atoms from inflow of interstellar gas into the heliosphere. The accumulated counts and Ecliptic (spacecraft-centered) angle coordinates for each sky map pixel are given in the ascii files .TXT. The positions of the Sun and the planets vary with time and with the position of the spacecraft along its trajectory, while the positions of stars remain fixed. The full images are provided in GIF (.GIF files) and postscript (*.PS files) format, the GIF files being easily viewed on-line (see below) with an Internet web browser. The actual positions of Sun, Earth, and Jupiter are indicated by yellow, green and white dots, respectively. The area around the Sun is excluded from observation to avoid damaging intensities from direct sunlight. The files USER_GUIDE.TXT, FORMAT.TXT, and REFERENCE.TXT, respectively, give an overall description of the various datatypes, the record format for the DATA datatype, and a list of GAS-related publications. The users guide defines the nomenclature of the file names. Further details about the data and the experiment may be found in Witte et al., Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser., 92, No. 2, 333-348, 1992 (NSSDC TRF # B40459-000A). Data analysis methods for interstellar helium are described in Banaszkiewicz et al., Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser., 120, 587-602, 1996 (B45706-000A).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date March 13, 2026
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date March 13, 2026
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
Publisher NASA Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) Data Services
Maintainer
Identifier /SDE/SPASE_JSON/|fdde2243bf022a54309da8445de419ec
Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
Category Heliophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id d81d7448-361c-4206-b395-de2aa7362fb2
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 6a9955b2e1116c61368b7d529b0e7ee6eaee11297e03fb60b6416e6d6762be37
Source Schema Version 1.1

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